


Fear is a Superpower

by bespectacledmermaid



Category: Black Widow (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Fear, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-06-24
Packaged: 2020-05-19 00:40:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19346014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bespectacledmermaid/pseuds/bespectacledmermaid
Summary: I'm going back through old works and updating them and sharing them here for the first time, hence the really back dated Avengers nonsense!





	Fear is a Superpower

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going back through old works and updating them and sharing them here for the first time, hence the really back dated Avengers nonsense!

Natasha wasn’t programmed to feel fear. She was the Black Widow, people were supposed to fear her. She had a confidence in her skills that made her feel and become virtually unstoppable. But when Coulson ordered her to India to collect ‘The Big Guy’ something started simmering in the pit of her belly. She’d read the brief and seen the footage from Culver University. She’d known of the Hulk since Bruce Banner had gone on the run. Being in his presence was an entirely different thing from watching him on screen. Natasha was by no means stupid, but the Hulk was something she couldn’t comprehend. Bruce’s body broke all the rules and she liked rules. She liked the logic on how to take down an opponent. With the Hulk, there were no strategies, no way of predicting how he would act. Not a single manipulation tactic that could bring the situation under her control. 

She had breathed a sigh of relief when she got Bruce on the SHIELD plane with only one minor hint at the monster inside of him. Even then, it had been Bruce’s little test and nothing compared to what she would witness on the Helicarrier. As she watched Bruce writhe in agony on the floor next to her the simmering turned to a raging torrent. Wave after wave of burning terror washed over her. Natasha didn’t feel like this. Ever. She knew in her heart that talking Bruce down was useless but she tried it anyway. She was scared. She hadn’t been scared when Clint had her pinned, ready to take her out. She had been pissed that she’d messed up and let him win. There never would be any winning with the Hulk. To face him head on was to die and Natasha wasn’t ready to do that yet. Not until she had Clint back. So she did something she never had to do. She ran. She ran for her life.

As with just about any situation, Natasha was quick to recover. She was back in the fight moments after Thor swooped in and tackled the Hulk. 

As she watched Bruce transform in New York, Natasha wasn’t scared. At first she couldn’t explain why but when Bruce came to speak with her as she had her wounds tended to in the infirmary she realised the fear was not exclusive to the Hulk. Her fear had been of death. Of an enemy she couldn’t hope to overcome. Something that stood in her way of bringing Clint back to their side. What she feared most was losing Clint. Bruce had smiled warmly and told her he’d try his best not get in her way again, especially when it came to Clint. She thanked Bruce with a squeeze to his arm. Without him she might not have realised it was okay to be scared.


End file.
